—The Spring 1977 Tour Is Considered by Many Dead Heads to Be the Best String of Shows Ever Performed by the Grateful Dead

—Dead Archivist Dick Latvala Deemed the Concert on Dick’s Picks Vol. 3 the Best Show on the Tour

—Features a Never-to-Be-Repeated Medley of “Estimated Prophet”/”Eyes of the World”/”Wharf Rat”/”Terrapin Station”/”Morning Dew”

—Also Includes Definitive Live Versions of “Sugaree” and “The Music Never Stopped” and a Phenomenal “Help on the Way”/Slipknot!”/“Franklin’s Tower”

—Long Out of Print

--Real Gone will also be releasing, in a limited 3eition 300-unit reprint, Grateful Dead: Dick’s Picks Vol. 26—4/26/69 Electric Theater, Chicago, IL 4/27/69 Labor Temple, Minneapolis, MN, a 2-CD set that stands as a worthy complement to the group’s seminal Live Daad album, featuring the same “Dark Star”/”St. Stephen”/”The Eleven” medley that formed the centerpiece of that album

Grateful Dead archivist Dick Latvala considered this show to be the finest outing on the entire Spring 1977 tour, and, as any Dead Head knows, that is high praise indeed! At the time, the Dead weren’t sure a market existed (ha!) for three and four-CD packages, so this two-CD set leaves off eight songs from the show, but consider what songs are here: a phenomenal “Help on the Way”/”Slipknot!”/”Franklin’s Tower” concludes disc one after one of the definitive renditions of “Sugaree” and a terrific “The Music Never Stopped,” with Phil Lesh’s slithering bass leading the way in recording engineer’s Betty Cantor-Jackson’s mix. But disc two offers one of those sublime, seamless (and, in this case, never to be repeated) sequences of songs that only the Dead could pull off in concert; after the rarely-performed “Sunrise,” a medley of “Estimated Prophet”/”Eyes of the World”/”Wharf Rat”/”Terrapin Station” (a truncated version two months before its official release)/”Morning Dew” brings the show home, as Jerry Garcia’s soloing on “Morning Dew” reaches heights seldom attained even by him. A knockout release, long out of print.

Songs:

Disc One

1. Funiculi Funicula

2. The Music Never Stopped

3. Sugaree

4. Lazy Lightning

5. Supplication

6. Dancing in the Streets

7. Help on the Way

8. Slipknot!

9. Franklin’s Tower

Disc Two

1. Samson and Delilah

2. Sunrise

3. Estimated Prophet

4. Eyes of the World

5. Wharf Rat

6. Terrapin Station

7. (Walk Me Out in the) Morning Dew

Article originally appeared on Real Gone Music (http://www.realgonemusic.com/).